One of a series of blogs provided by Naomi Riches – building up to The Great Thames Row, an attempt to set a record for being the fastest woman to row 165 miles along the length of the River Thames! The full archive of related blogs can be found here: www.mymarlow.co.uk/blog/tag/tgtr2016/
30th January 2016 – It’s Official
230 days to go… YIKES!!!
I look at the lists and spreadsheets we have created and it frightens me how much there is still to do. January, whilst it has gone very quickly has been an incredibly productive month… so I should stop worrying!
The lovely Malcolm Knight who is the current record holder welcomed us to his club, Thames Ditton to do some filming for the promo video. He was brilliant, so relaxed chatting to camera and showing me the boat he used when he rowed the Thames in 2005… t looked decidedly sturdy in comparison to my Filippi single!!!
Training has definitely stepped on this month and I am starting to appreciate how lucky I was not having to train and work when I was in the GB Squad. I am not training anywhere near the amount I was then… and I am knackered! Plenty of ergs, circuits, running, core and water sessions under my belt and I am starting to feel slightly rowing fit again… I feels awesome but I still have a long way to go!
Also this month…
- A good friend has agreed to create The Great Thames Row 2016 logo.
- Another mate has arranged for his company to print all the posters, fliers, banners etc; and one of the companies they use has offered to help with the lay out designs for all those things.
- We potentially have big launch to use, now we just need a small one to stay with me on route.
- In total 55 people have volunteered to help in various ways… amazing!
So, wow, putting it like that… we have done SHED LOADS!!!
Lastly and most importantly, this month we’ve had CONFORMATION FROM GUINNESS… now it is REALLY real!!!
The Guinness Book of World Records have named it, ‘Fastest time to row the river Thames in a Single Scull (Female)’ and this has to be done in 50hours or less for them to acknowledge it.
Having confirmed they will recognise it as a ‘female’ record does take the pressure off a little. We are working off Malcolm’s timings for the row and the competitor in me wants so much to beat him but at the same time if I don’t I still get a record and either way, he remains the holder of his record!
I wonder what amazing things next month will hold?
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